• Title/Summary/Keyword: sustainable performance

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Lithium ion car batteries: Present analysis and future predictions

  • Arambarri, James;Hayden, James;Elkurdy, Mostafa;Meyers, Bryan;Abu Hamatteh, Ziad Salem;Abbassi, Bassim;Omar, Waid
    • Environmental Engineering Research
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    • v.24 no.4
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    • pp.699-710
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    • 2019
  • Electric vehicles (EVs) are spreading rapidly and many counties are promoting hybrid and fully EVs through legislation. Therefore, an increasing amount of lithium ion batteries will reach the end of their usable life and will require effective and sustainable end-of-life management plan which include landfill disposal or incineration. The current research focuses on more sustainable methods such as remanufacturing, reuse and recycling in order to prepare for future battery compositions and provide insights to the need recycling methods to be developed to handle large amounts of batteries sustainably in the near future. The two most prominent material recovery techniques are hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy which are explored and assessed on their relative effectiveness, sustainability, and feasibility. Hydrometallurgy is a superior recycling method due to high material recovery and purity, very low emissions, high prevalence of chemical reuse and implementation of environmentally sustainable compounds. Expanding recycling technologies globally should take the research and technologies pioneered by Umicore to establish a sustainable recycling program for end-of-life EVs batteries. Emerging battery technology of Telsa show the most effective designs for high performance batteries includes the use of silicon which is expected to increase capacity of batteries in the future.

Flexural performance of cold-formed square CFST beams strengthened with internal stiffeners

  • Zand, Ahmed W. Al;Badaruzzaman, W.H. Wan;Ali, Mustafa M.;Hasan, Qahtan A.;Al-Shaikhli, Marwan S.
    • Steel and Composite Structures
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    • v.34 no.1
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    • pp.123-139
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    • 2020
  • The tube outward local buckling of Concrete-Filled Steel Tube (CFST) beam under high compression stress is still considered a critical problem, especially for steel tubes with a slender section compared to semi-compact and compact sections. In this study, the flexural performance of stiffened slender cold-formed square tube beams filled with normal concrete was investigated. Fourteen (14) simply supported CFST specimens were tested under static bending loads, stiffened with different shapes and numbers of steel stiffeners that were provided at the inner sides of the tubes. Additional finite element (FE) CFST models were developed to further investigate the influence of using internal stiffeners with varied thickness. The results of tests and FE analyses indicated that the onset of local buckling, that occurs at the top half of the stiffened CFST beam's cross-section at mid-span was substantially restricted to a smaller region. Generally, it was also observed that, due to increased steel area provided by the stiffeners, the bending capacity, flexural stiffness and energy absorption index of the stiffened beams were significantly improved. The average bending capacity and the initial flexural stiffness of the stiffened specimens for the various shapes, single stiffener situations have increased of about 25% and 39%, respectively. These improvements went up to 45% and 60%, for the double stiffeners situations. Moreover, the bending capacity and the flexural stiffness values obtained from the experimental tests and FE analyses validated well with the values computed from equations of the existing standards.

A Study on the Development School Agenda 21 to Activate Environmental Education (학교 환경교육을 활성화시키기 위한 학교의제 21 개발 연구)

  • Park, Ha-Na;Nam, Young-Sook
    • Hwankyungkyoyuk
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    • v.18 no.2 s.27
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    • pp.23-30
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    • 2005
  • The purpose of this study is to develop School Agenda 21 to activate environmental education at schools. In detail, this study is intended to develop operating procedures, major issue areas or domains, and instructions on the preparation for School Agenda 21. School Agenda 21 means the action plan which students, teachers, parents, and other concerned parties (including office of education, local municipal bodies, and NGOs) write under agreement with respect to their respective roles in order to activate environmental educations oriented toward sustainable development. The results of this study are as follow. First, the operating procedures for School Agenda 21 consist of seven steps; organization, diagnosis of problems, setup of targets or objectives, development of codes of behavior, system establishment, practices and reviews, and evaluation and feedbacks. Second, major issue areas for School Agenda 21 are classified into six; school management, class operation, independent subject activity, separate subject activity, non-subject activity, and external relations of school. Third, instructions of the preparation of School Agenda 21 address these 10 concepts; balance, unification, continuity, daily routine, linkage, environmental justice, participation, peculiarity of schools and classes, regional peculiarity, and concreteness, which consider 7 principles for environmental education, levels of learners, regional features, and concreteness. School Agenda 21 developed from this study converts existing environmental education toward sustainable development environmental education, and developed for the purpose to activate school environmental education, but ultimate purpose of this study are realizing sustainable society, sustainable future to realize education for sustainable development. So School Agenda 21 is expected to important performance way making possible Local Agenda 21, National Agenda 21, Agenda 21 as if education, public recognition and discipline contents of the 36 chapter of Agenda 21.

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Performance evaluation of β-glucan treated lean clay and efficacy of its choice as a sustainable alternative for ground improvement

  • Kumara, S. Anandha;Sujatha, Evangelin Ramani
    • Geomechanics and Engineering
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    • v.21 no.5
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    • pp.413-422
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    • 2020
  • The choice of eco-friendly materials for ground improvement is a necessary way forward for sustainable development. Adapting naturally available biopolymers will render the process of soil stabilization carbon neutral. An attempt has been made to use β-glucan, a natural biopolymer for the stabilization of lean clay as a sustainable alternative with specific emphasis on comprehending the effect of confining stresses on lean clay through triaxial compression tests. A sequence of laboratory experiments was performed to examine the various physical and mechanical characteristics of β-glucan treated soil (BGTS). Micro-analysis through micrographs were used to understand the strengthening mechanism. Results of the study show that the deviatoric stress of 2% BGTS is 12 times higher than untreated soil (UTS). The micrographs from Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and the results of the Nitrogen-based Brunauer Emmett Teller (N2-BET) analysis confirm the formation of new cementitious fibres and hydrogels within the soil matrix that tends to weld soil particles and reduce the pore spaces leading to an increase in strength. Hydraulic conductivity (HC) and compressibility reduced significantly with the biopolymer content and curing period. Results emphases that β-glucan is an efficient and sustainable alternative to the traditional stabilizers like cement, lime or bitumen.

A Pilot Project on the Integrated System Design for Developing the Sustainable Housing Model (친환경 공동주택 구현을 위한 저에너지 설비시스템 통합설계 방안 및 파일럿 프로젝트 계획)

  • Cho, Jin-Kyun;Sung, Jae-Ho;Shin, Seon-Joon;Hong, Min-Ho
    • Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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    • 2009.06a
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    • pp.1049-1054
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    • 2009
  • Sustainable housing design can contribute to dramatically reduced energy usage and can be applied to all new building projects. This paper explores the potential in Korea of applying available energy efficient building technologies. The objective was to determine the degree of energy reduction that can easily be achieved in new building design. The pilot project is providing some prototypes with display units which incorporate principles of sustainable design and performance utilizing the eco-design objectives. This building challenges ingrained preconceptions about system designs for four energy saving levels(40%, 60%, 80% and zero energy) and exposes barriers to low energy buildings posed by new standards and guidelines.

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Use of Recycled Brick Masonry Aggregate and Recycled Brick Masonry Aggregate Concrete in Sustainable Construction

  • Schwerin, Dallas E.;Cavalline, Tara L.;Weggel, David C.
    • Journal of Construction Engineering and Project Management
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    • v.3 no.1
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    • pp.28-34
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    • 2013
  • Use of recycled aggregates in portland cement concrete (PCC) construction can offer benefits associated with both economy and sustainability. Testing performed to date indicates that recycled brick masonry aggregate (RBMA) can be used as a 100% replacement for conventional coarse aggregate in concrete that exhibits acceptable mechanical properties for use in structural and pavement elements, including satisfactory performance in some durability tests. Recycled brick masonry aggregate concrete (RBMAC) is currently not used in any type of construction in the United States. However, use of RBMAC could become a viable construction strategy as sustainable building practices become the norm. This paper explores the feasibility of use of RBMAC in several types of sustainable construction initiatives, based upon the findings of previous work with RBMAC that incorporates RBMA produced from construction and demolition waste from a case study site. A summary of material properties of RBMAC that will be useful to construction professionals are presented, along with a discussion of advantages and impediments to use. Several quality assurance and quality control techniques that could be incorporated into specifications are identified.

The Effects of Sustainable Tax Strategies on Value Relevance (조세전략의 지속가능성이 회계정보의 가치관련성에 미치는 영향)

  • Ma, Hee-Young
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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    • v.9 no.3
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    • pp.71-82
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    • 2018
  • This study verifies whether the sustainable tax strategy provides unique information on earnings persistence and brings about the difference of value relevance of accounting information. Sustainability is measured by the 5-year coefficient of variation in cash ETR, such as in McGuire et al.(2013), which measures variability in long-term performance of tax avoidance. The value relevance of accounting information in this study is modified by the Ohlson model(1995), which explains the value of the firm by using accounting information such as net assets and net income and other non-accounting information. The samples of this study are the firms listed on the securities market from 2004 to 2015 and the final samples are 3,133 firm-year. The results of this empirical analysis show that the value relevance of accounting information increases as firms have long-term and sustainable tax strategies. Most of the prior studies on tax strategies have examined the tax minimization strategy that minimizes the tax cost. However, this study is different in that the sustainability of the tax strategy affects the value relevance of accounting information. The results of this study will be useful for the users to make decision using the value relevance of accounting information.

The Strategies for the Sustainable Management of Insurance Companies (보험회사의 지속가능경영 전략에 관한 연구)

  • Jung, Se-Chang;Seon, Hwan-Kyu
    • Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.119-130
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    • 2011
  • This paper measures and analyzes the performance of insurance companies in Korea in respect to sustainable development and suggest strategic implications based on the analysis. The correlation, regression, ANOVA, and t-test are employed. The results of this study are summarized as follows. First, it shows tat social index is important in the life insurance industry; however, the environmental index, is important in the non-life insurance industry. Second, the result gained by regressing the size and financial soundness on the performance of sustainable development demonstrates that the size variable is statistically significant. It suggests that size is a necessary condition for sustainable development. Finally, ANOVA shows that the small and medium sized companies have a significantly poor performance compared to the large companies concerning the social index and reputation index in the life insurance industry. The small and medium sized companies in the non-life insurance industry exhibit a significantly poor performance compared to the large companies in respect to all the indexes, except for the social index. Therefore, the small and medium sized companies make every endeavor in the poor indexes to improve performance.

Knowledge Management Resource, Strategy, and Performance: A Test of Contingency Model (지식경영 자원, 전략, 그리고 성과: 상황모형의 검증)

  • Cheon, Myun Joong;Heo, Myung Sook
    • Knowledge Management Research
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    • v.7 no.2
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    • pp.35-52
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    • 2006
  • Increasing competitive pressure, the constantly accelerating transformation of the economy, and a stronger focus on value creation have initiated the search for sustainable sources of competitive advantage in organizations. In this context, the concept of treating organizational knowledge as a valuable strategic resource has become quite popular recently. Knowledge has become the most critical component in the struggle for sustained competitive advantage and knowledge management (KM) has also been described for its possible role in creating sustainable competitive advantage. In order to examine the contingency between KM resources, KM strategies, and KM performance of organizations, a contingency model of KM, which is based on resource-based theory as well as knowledge-based theory, is developed from the information systems and strategic management literature in order to assess the following questions: (i) What KM resources affect the organization's KM strategies? (ii) Is there a relationship between KM strategies and organizational performance enhanced by KM? A detailed exploratory analysis of survey responses from 79 Korean companies provides the following significant findings: (i) This study found support for the proposed contingency model of KM; (ii) The organization's KM strategies are determined by social resources and its capabilities; (iii) An organization with a culture-based KM strategy is more likely to enhance organizational KM performance than an organization with a technology-based KM strategy.

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Analysis on the Seismic Performance of Ceiling System in School Buildings (국내 학교시설 천장재의 내진성능 분석)

  • Park, Sung-Chul;Cho, Jin-Il;Jung, Tae-Hwan
    • The Journal of Sustainable Design and Educational Environment Research
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.11-18
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    • 2016
  • The purpose of this study is to develop the evaluation model of school facilities in terms of seismic performance during safety education in the school field. This study is composed of four stages with a view to developing user oriented evaluation models that can be utilized during earthquake safety education on ceiling system. and First stage analyze the evaluation guidelines to find evaluation methods and items. Based on the items, site survey was conducted to derive the characteristics of seismic performance of domestic school buildings in terms of ceiling system. Third stage analyzes the seismic performance of ceiling system. Final stage is to derive recommendations based on the results.